There are many grave-yards in the desert, generally near sacred places or large trees, or on the top of the larger Tells. In one or two instances a whitewashed tomb is built, in the middle of the cemetery, over the body of some noted Sheikh, and necklaces, or the furniture of a horse, are hung as gifts upon it. The Arabs often bring the dead bodies from a considerable distance in order to inter them in the cemetery of the tribe.
There is one habit of the Bedawîn which has given rise to misconceptions, and is worthy of notice. The camels and other property are marked by a recognised tribe-mark called Wusm. Each tribe, and each division of a tribe, has its mark, and some are curious. The Rushâideh mark is a circle with a cross—resembling the astronomical sign for Mars. The Jâhalîn have a T, a cross, or a C with a dot in the centre. The Tiyâhah have two parallel strokes, the Dhullâm have three, and the K’abneh a double cross. These marks are found on the flanks of the camels, on the grave-stones, and on ruined buildings. Thus at Masada the gateway is covered with the Rushâideh and Jâhalîn marks, the reason being that the Arabs believe that a hidden treasure exists there, and they therefore assert their ownership by putting the tribe-mark on the place.
Two traditions are very commonly repeated among the Bedawîn. The first is that hidden treasure exists in certain places, and can be discovered by the use of incantations. There is some foundation for this expectation of finding treasure, for it seems to have been common to bury money in old times, as indeed it still is; and the hoards are found from time to time. A quantity of gold Alexanders were lately found in the neighbourhood of Tyre, and a number of shekels were discovered near Jericho in the winter of 1873, and were brought to us in Jerusalem; these were subsequently pronounced genuine in Europe. In Haifa also a treasure of Byzantine coins was found under the sill of a doorway in the gardens. The Arabs have exaggerated ideas on this subject, and they suppose treasures to lie hidden in every ruin.
The second common idea is that the desert was formerly cultivated and full of water. All over the plateau west of the Dead Sea ruins are shown which are said to be remains of former vineyards, and even the Roman camps at Masada are so called. This idea is also perhaps founded on fact: “the vineyards of Engedi,” mentioned by Solomon, have entirely disappeared together with its palms, and the palms of Jericho have left only two survivors. The Crusaders cultivated sugar in three places along the Jordan Valley, yet only the ruins of their mills and aqueducts are now left, with the semi-fossilised stalks of the sugar-canes near Beisân. But although the country is thus shown to have been at one time more productive, still no such entire change as the Arabs suppose is likely to have taken place, for the desert is called desert in the Bible, and the Dead Sea plateau is the old Jeshimon or “solitude.”
The preceding pages will, I hope, serve to show how broad is the distinction between the peasantry and the nomadic people, and how interesting is the study of both the races as throwing light on the Bible narrative. We must now pass on to consider briefly the other inhabitants of the Holy Land.
CHAPTER XXIII.
JEWS, RUSSIANS, AND GERMANS.
THE Jews in Palestine inhabit only the larger towns, where they are engaged in trade and in money transactions. The greater number live in the four holy cities—Jerusalem, Tiberias, Safed, and Hebron; but many are found also in the coast towns of Gaza, Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Tyre, and Sidon. The number of Jews in Jerusalem was estimated by the Consular reports in 1872 to be 8000, but it has considerably increased since then, owing to the arrival of a large body of Russian and Polish Jews, who fled, it is said, from the conscription in those countries. Whatever be the cause, the fact is undisputed, that the Jews are steadily gathering in Palestine. In Jerusalem they have been encouraged by the munificence of Sir Moses Montefiore, and have formed a sort of building-club for the purpose of erecting houses to the west of the town.
The following facts relating to the Jews are obtained from the best authority—namely, from Dr. Chaplin, the physician of the Jewish hospital in Jerusalem.
The largest section of the Jews in Jerusalem is that of the Ashkenazim, which comprises the fair-haired sallow German Jews, with the Polish, and the gigantic Russian Jews. The Ashkenazim are subdivided into national communities, and also into religious sects, all of the “high church” order, including the Parushim (or Pharisees), the Chasidim (or Assideans of the Book of Maccabees), the Chabad, and the Varshi. These four sects agree in recognising, in various degrees, the authority of the Talmudic law, and the traditions of the elders.
Next in order come the Sephardim, or Spanish Jews, who still wear the black turban originally imposed on them by the laws of the mad Caliph Hâkem; they include also the Mughrabee Jews, who speak Arabic. In their physique, and the dignity of their appearance, the Sephardim are far superior to their European co-religionists; they also belong to the extreme party of the Chasidim and Varshi, in whose synagogues they will pray when not near to one of their own.